Golf is an increasingly popular sport. It is well-known that mastery of the sport depends, in a large part, on the ability to drive the golf ball in the direction that the golfer intends to drive it. To do this the face of the golf club head must contact the golf ball at the correct point and at the correct angle during the golfer's swing. The inability of golfers, particularly novice golfers, to grasp this technique frustrates the advancement in the sport of many golfers.
Of methods and apparatuses for improving the technique of golfers in hitting golf balls, there are many patents that comprise the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,499 issued to E. V. Hartford on Feb. 24, 1920, U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,678 of F. C. Hansen, Sr. which issued on Nov. 27, 1956, U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,525 to H. W. Smith on Aug. 3, 1965, U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,893 issued to J. B. Duncan on Sep. 20, 1966, U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,693 of W. Eisenberg which issued on Jan. 17, 1967, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,160 issued to J. M. Salata on Oct. 11, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,838 to P. E. Paschetto on Nov. 20, 1979, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,971 issued to C. J. Thorton which was issued on Aug. 21, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,533 to D. L. Radakovich on Oct. 6, 1992 all disclose devices attached to the golf club shaft to improve the golfers' accuracy when hitting golf balls. However, these devices, being connected to the club's shaft, tend to be inherently less than precise for providing optimum striking dispositions by the faces of golf clubs. In other words, they fail to disclose means for precisely calibrating the device so that the golf ball is hit at the correct point of contact and the motion of the club and angle of the striking plate is such that the ball is caused to travel in the desired direction. However prior art exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. Des. 111,855 that issued to F. Moreno on Oct. 25, 1938, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 150,497 issued to C. F. Forsell dated Aug. 10, 1948, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 188,677 to I. T. Thomson on Aug. 23, 1960, U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,574 issued to H. F. Partridge on May 8, 1962, an alternate embodiment in U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,525 of H. W. Smith which was issued on Aug. 3, 1965, U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,892 to R. E. Nolting on Sep. 20, 1966 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,045 to R. M. Bilyeu dated Mar. 3, 1987 disclose a variety of devices for improving the techniques of golfers by attaching a device either very close to or on the face of the golf club head which is used when striking the golf ball, thus making the device's use impractical for use on any club other than a putter. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,690 issued to J. R. Sharp on Oct. 1, 1991 involves a mirror mounted on top of the golf club head which is impractical for most conventional golf club heads except the putter. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,193 issued to M. J. Pierman on Dec. 16, 1986 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,943 of H. Szczepanski dated Apr. 11, 1989 provide unconventional golf clubs for improving golfers' hitting technique.
A need therefore exists for apparatus which is suitable for use with conventional golf clubs that accurately relates to the position of the golf club's head's face when golf balls are hit, to assist golfers in not only putting but also for driving golf balls in the direction they are aimed.